Destiny or Just Luck
by Vivian Black and Lyn Snyder
Summary: Elizabeth 'Lizzy' and Felicity 'Fee' Thorton have just moved to Mystic Falls...and they don't know why. Their family was blissfully happy in Chicago, so why are they in this small Virginian town? Vampire Diaries Season 2. full summary on profile!
1. Felicity: Saturday, March 6, 2010

_They had come to Mystic Falls with the thought that their lives would start over. The Thornton's had uprooted their family from Chicago; pulling their two daughters, Elizabeth and Felicity, out of their senior year at Lake View High School. The move to Virginia took both girls by surprise; they didn't know why they parents would want to leave the city for such a small, hick town in the middle of the south._

* * *

**Saturday, March 6, 2010**

We arrived in Mystic Falls two days ago. We've been so busy unpacking everything that I haven't had a chance to write.

I still have no idea why mom and dad have even brought us here. We had such a good life in Chicago, and then they up and decide we are moving south. Although, I do have to say it is warmer here than what it was in Chicago – the only plus I see about this move – I miss my friends. And, I can't believe I'm going to write this, I miss my high school and my teachers there.

I haven't really had the joy of going to the Mystic Falls High School yet, but I bet they are just _dying_ to meet the Thornton sisters. I know that they have heard about us…. I could see it written in their faces as my family and I walked around town today. They seemed to give us odd looks, even though they don't know us.

There was one guy whose eye I caught, who seemed to look at me differently than all of the others, and I don't know why. Liz and I were in the coffee shop this morning, waiting on our drinks when he came in. He seemed to look about my age, 18 or so, with sunglasses on and a leather jacket. Everyone in the room would peer up from their newspapers and magazines as the tall figure walked up to the counter and order a drink. That's when he saw Liz and me standing there. It was more a look of curiosity than anything. He didn't say anything, he just looked at me. When he got his drink, he walked out quickly, and my eyes followed him. He handed the drink to a dark haired girl who kissed him gently on the lips. I hadn't noticed before, but she had been sitting at a table just outside the café – I had probably passed her on my way in and not even realized it. The girl got up slowly and I could see she was slender. The guy put his arms around her waist, kissed her forehead affectionately and they walked off together.

"Wow," Liz said, and I turned to look at her. She had noticed him too. "Who was that?" She said. It was more of a curious statement than anything – like I would know who he was, we had only just arrived.

"That was Stefan Salvatore…" The woman behind the counter said slowly. Liz and I looked at her. "..with his girlfriend, Elena Gilbert." The woman behind the counter seemed to look at the spot where the dark haired girl had just been with envy in her eyes.

I was immediately envious of her, too. Even though I had only seen the back side of her, and not her face, I knew she was beautiful, especially from the way that the other girl looked at her too.

"Your drinks," the girl said, and handed me my grande' iced mocha. Liz took her iced chai and we walked towards the door slowly. I couldn't help but think that maybe Liz was thinking the same thing I was.

The rest of today kind of went by in a blur. Since we have arrived, I haven't been able to really think about anything except settling into my new room – another plus side, I guess you could say. In Chicago, our condo only offered two bedrooms – well three, but dad had turned one of them into an office – so, Lizzy and I had had to share a room for the longest time. Now that we are in Mystic Falls, we have a five bedroom house, built in the late 1800s.

The house is grand with a huge front hall, grand stair case and kitchen the size of our entire living in the condo – in other words, huge. Everything here is much more spread out. I don't like it. You can't just step outside your front door and go to the mall, or to the Starbucks on the corner. We have to actually get in our car to go to the mall now…and there isn't a Starbucks in town…it's just that little town coffee shop….where I subsequently saw Stefan Salvatore for the first time.

I shouldn't really think about him – he's taken and by Elena Gilbert… Like I said, it seems like the coffee girl envied her, which means she's probably got everything she wants. I really shouldn't speculate about someone I really don't know.

Mom and dad want to take Lizzy and I out to explore the rest of the town tomorrow, I don't know why, there isn't much else to see except the coffee shop and the other little shops in town, and I don't even think they'll be open, what with it being Sunday.

I can tell this whole "southern comfort, home town living" is going to kill me.

Signing off for now….

~Fee

P.s. Officially 20 days until I'm 18.


	2. Elizabeth: March 6, 2010

**March 6, 2010**

So my family and I have been in Mystic Falls for 2 days now. The reason for being here: I have no idea. We just are. I had heard Mom saying something about our safety a few times, but I didn't think anything of it. Yeah Chicago is dangerous, but it was also home to me.

I am seriously not looking forward to starting Mystic Falls High School on Monday. School isn't really my thing but what else is there to do during the day. Back in Chicago, I used school as an excuse to hang with my friends.

I'm not, by any means, a bad student. I just hate wasting my time doing boring things in class. In general I hate wasting time. I do get my homework done since we have a mandatory minimum of an hour of homework time each night – courtesy of my parents.

Anyways, I did, however, have the chance to walk through town today. The weird looks from the townspeople were a little annoying, but it's normal since we were new in town: two young girls walking through town looking like opposites and parents who look like neither of us.

Course, then there was the guy in the leather jacket and sunglasses at the coffee shop this morning, when Felicity and I were getting our caffeine fix for the day. It was pretty nice to be able to get my coffee shots in this new place. Yeah it's a massive amount of caffeine in a little cup but it's the only thing that keeps me awake anymore.

Yum…. I should go get a cup….

Ok. Focus. Back to the guy at the coffee shop.

He came up to the counter near where Fee and I were waiting for our drinks. He didn't even remove his sunglasses while he looked at the menu board and ordered at the same time. He looked at Fee differently than everyone else had today. He had glanced at me too but his focus was on Fee.

Of course, then there was the girl that he handed the drink to and kissed before the two of them left the café. They looked pretty close. The girl had been sitting at one of the tables just outside the door of the café.

So the couple ended up being a guy named Stefan Salvatore, and his girlfriend Elena Gilbert. The chick behind the counter and Fee both seemed a bit envious of the girlfriend though. I bet most guys around here were envious of the Stefan guy.

After my coffee shots, I got an iced chai for the road. Fee ordered a grande-iced mocha. And when they say grande, they mean it.

The nice thing about the house we're living in now is that I have my own room with privacy. We had three bedrooms in the house in Chicago but Dad used one of them for an away-from-work office. No amount of hanging sheets can give you the same privacy as a door that can be locked.

_-Liz_


	3. Felicity: Monday, March 8, 2010

**Monday, March 8, 2010**

Oh my gosh, my caffeine fix couldn't come soon enough. I am so glad Mystic Falls High lets you go off campus to get your lunch if you want to. I started the beginning of my lunch period with Lizzy, but kind of sneaked away so that I could finally get a chance to write about what happened during the earlier hours of today.

This morning was hell and back again. The first day of high school in Virginia, and I'm missing home even more – not a big surprise there, really.

This morning kind of started out in a blur of events – as usual, everything seems to go in a blur here.

The shrill jouts of my parent's voices woke me up this morning. They were fighting, which is something they rarely ever do. It was 6 a.m., hardly a time for me to be up when classes start at 8:30. But, their arguing kind of frightened me.

I had crawled out of bed to rest my ear against the floor boards, hoping that I could hear what they were saying, but I'm guessing they were in the kitchen, not the living room – exactly below where my bedroom was. Lizzy, on the other hand, I bet she could've heard everything.

I could only make out a few shouts here and there about a girl that had just been admitted to the hospital. Then the voices were muffled for a while, and then I heard my mother speak up about mine and Lizzy's safety. I rolled my eyes, lifting my head. Chicago was more dangerous than Mystic Falls, and I had learned how to survive the homeless, the street urchins, and the pick-pockets that walked the sidewalks every day. I was sure I could handle a small town in Virginia.

It was when Lizzy and I got to school that things seemed to hit me like a brick. Lizzy and I had climbed into our new Mini Cooper – a 'gift' our parents gave us for cooperating with the move, and because they knew that we weren't in a city where you could walk everywhere. We didn't really realize that the high school was in the middle of no-where until we actually tried to find it.

Mom had told us what street it was on, but that didn't seem to help much, and I have a bad sense of direction. Plus, it doesn't help that I'm stubborn and don't listen to Lizzy when she tells me where to go. LOL. Needless to say, we got lost more than once.

But I really don't think Lizzy seemed to mind. She sat back in the passenger's seat chair and pulled her sunglasses over her eyes in defeat the fifth time we had passed the coffee shop.

So, I have another thing to add to my hate list about this stupid town; it has so many back roads and alleyways; it's like a maze inside a town. Anyone who hasn't grown up there could easily get lost – aka Lizzy and I. Finally, we stopped at the coffee shop – the only building in town we really know – and asked exactly how to get to the high school. It was 9:30 by the time that we walked through the doors and students were rushing about trying to get to their second period classes.

Not knowing exactly what to do, Lizzy and I tried to weed through the crowd of southern teens and were greeted with looks of disgust. There were many girls who stuck their noses up in the air when we walked by and didn't even bother to stop and help us. We wondered around the halls for a while after they had emptied, trying to figure out where the main office was. We still had to get our schedules. And the dumb school wasn't smart enough to post signs in the building so you could find the mail office.

It's kind of dumb really. This school only houses only 500 students – grades seven through 12 – and you can't find the stupid office. In Chicago, they have signs posted throughout the school which wing of the building you're in.

Stupid southerners.

When we did find the office, after 15 minutes of searching, the secretary gave me the 'you dumb blonde' look when we told her why we were there…and why we were late.

Seriously, just because a girl has light blond hair and green eyes, it doesn't automatically make me stupid.

Lizzy and I don't really have a lot of classes together – something that we can _live with_, but it's going to be hard, especially with the looks everyone is giving us.

The two office workers assisting the secretary – like she would need help, I saw her playing solitaire on her computer as if she were on vacation – escorted Lizzy and I to our first classes. One of them was Elena Gilbert. Fortunately for me, she wasn't the one to escort me to second period, it was a guy named Matt.

He was really shy and not very talkative. We walked in silence next to each other for a long time before he looked down at my schedule and then at the door to one of the classrooms.

"Mr. Proctor's class." He said, then plastered a smile on his face. He handed my schedule over with an icy hand. "If you have any trouble finding your next class, one of the hall monitors can help." He then turned and walked away.

"And have a nice day to you, too." I said hotly under my breath and then knocked on the door lightly.

I knocked on the door lightly to Mr. Proctor's class, hoping that he wouldn't be one of those teachers that got pissy with the students who interrupt his lectures. This was probably the one class I was going to hate the most – chemistry. Although I was pretty good at most subjects, especially art and English, I couldn't help but loath chemistry. In my Chicago chem class, much to my dismay, I was trying to pull out a B-.

I saw a shabby little man with huge classes as he pulled open the door to the chemistry lab. He had a pointy nose too, and the top of his head seemed to glisten as light from the windows inside the room showed his bald head. I almost laughed, but I wanted to make a good impression. I straightened up and looked the man straight in the eye.

"I'm Felicity Thornton." I said slowly and handed the old man my schedule. He snatched it out of my hands quickly – tight reflexes for such an old geezer.

"Well, Miss Thornton," he said in a crackly voice and opened the door to the classroom full-width. He handed me back my schedule and then turned to walk toward the front lab desk where books were sprawled out.

"Class, this is Miss. Felicity Thornton, a new student from Chicago." He said, and turned to address the table. "There are lab books on the shelf in the back of the room, and you may take the empty lab seat next to Mr. Salvatore."

I froze at the mention of his name. _Salvatore._ It was like heat had begun to run through my veins and I couldn't help but think about Saturday and the way he had glanced at Lizzy and I for the longest time. I shook my head slowly in disbelief that he was in the room. But, sure enough, in the back right corner of the lab he was perched on a high stool, chem book open and his leather jacket on. I took a big gulp and went to the back of the room and collected my own book and tried to sit down next to him as gracefully as possible.

Second period seemed to go by so fast, but maybe that's because I was holding my breath for so long. When Mr. Proctor finally released us, I couldn't help but almost run from the room. Yes, I liked Stefan Salvatore. Thought he was cute, even. But, I couldn't let myself form an actual full-blown crush on him. And, I had the feeling that that would happen if I stayed in that classroom another minute with Stefan as my lab partner.

Third period was….dumb. Mr. Saltzman was my history teacher and he was talking about the Civil War.

In Chicago, I had been in an advanced history class on the history of the Civil War and Saltzman's lecture was a downgraded version of the advanced class I had had.

Don't get me wrong, he was a nice teacher.

Before I had gone into the classroom, I had seen Lizzy come out and she warned me that he was actually pretty good looking. I think that is the only thing that kept me awake for the entire hour, looking at Mr. Saltzman and analyzing how cute he was.

Pathetic, I know. Come on though, I was _bored_!

Thinking about it right now, I don't even remember what fourth period class is. I guess you would just call it a homeroom. It's a study hall for me, really. I had to take it because all of my advanced classes had me ahead of everyone else, and Mystic Falls High didn't offer anything I hadn't really already taken.

It was at lunch, though, that it seemed my whole 'being late, seeing Stefan Salvatore, getting bored in history class' day go much worse.

And, you know, I can honestly handle being late. I can handle sitting next to a guy I hardly know and already thinking he's cue. I can handle getting bored in class, but keeping myself awake by doing something non-productive.

What I can't handle is the look on everyone's face as Lizzy and I held our trays in our hands, surveying the general splendor of the student body. And, it seemed like they all stared back. Their faces were one of – not politeness or 'hey you're new, come sit with us we won't bite' – but disdain. They knew Lizzy and I were outsiders and made us feel like such in that cafeteria.

And, as I sit here writing this, I can't help but try to stop myself from letting tears fall down my face.

It makes me hate my parents. Hate them for tearing me away from my friends. Hate them for tearing me away from my home. Hate them for choosing _Mystic Falls_ as the place they wanted Lizzy and I to spend the rest of our _senior year_ of high school.

~Fee


	4. Elizabeth: March 8, 2010

**March 8****th****, 2010**

I was sleeping pretty well this morning 'til I heard the yelling coming from the kitchen, which in turn was just below my room. Our parents rarely ever fight so this was a strange event.

I slowly lowered myself to the floor to see what I could hear of the argument. There was some mention of a girl who was admitted to the hospital after she had been attacked; Mom made a statement about my and Fee's safety. Chicago was at lot worse than this tiny town. In Chicago you learn at a young age to protect yourself, so I don't know why mom was so upset…. I decided to ignore most of it and catch some z's before I had to officially wake up and get ready for school.

Shortly after we had come down for breakfast, Mom and Dad told us there was a gift for us in the driveway. They said it was for cooperating with the move. But, I don't think handing the keys to Felicity was a good idea for our first day of school.

Note to self: don't let Fee drive the first time anywhere. She got us lost so many times it wasn't even funny. Mom told us where it was but Fee is stubborn and wouldn't listen to the directions I was trying to give her.

I gave up trying to help her so I sat back in the passenger's seat with my sunglasses on and waited to see what she would do next.

Finally she decided to pull over at the coffee shop and ask for directions. 'Course this was like the fifth, or sixth time we had passed the place and I was glad to finally stop.

Needless to say, we were late for our first day. What made it worse was the fact that we couldn't find the office and none of the students around us would help.

Pricks.

They just gave us nasty looks and kept going wherever they were headed.

If I knew it would be this much of a hassle to find the office, I would have played hooky today and let Fee pick up my schedule. But, mom wouldn't have let that happen so I guess it was for the best.

When we finally found the office, Fee told the secretary why we were here and why we were late. The secretary gave Fee a funny look before handing each of us a class schedule.

Not too many classes with Fee. That's efinitely something I can live with since she's _Miss Smarty-pants _and I'm not. Nope. I'm in a bunch of average classes and I am happy with that.

A guy, Matt Donovan, escorted Fee to her second period class while the one and only Elena Gilbert escorted me.

She talked about the school on the way while I just listened and tried to remember every hall we passed. She even pointed out where some of my other classes where as she carried my schedule in her hand.

"Have fun in Mr. Saltzman's class." She said before walking away from me. I'm not a big fan of history but I didn't totally hate it either.

I knocked on the door before I entered the classroom just to be polite. I totally was expecting some old guy to be in front of the class. This guy definitely wasn't as old as I thought he would be.

"Aw you must be the new student Elizabeth Thornton."

"It's Liz, and yeah that's me."

"Welcome to second period history class, Liz. You can take the empty desk in the back row."

So I took my seat after I grabbed a history book from the shelf he pointed out in the back of the room.

Lunch was eventful. Fee and I had the same lunch period so we sat together and chatted about our day. I was actually kind of looking forward to Gym at the end of the day. Meant I could get out of the building a bit faster that way.

Auto shop looked like it was going to be fun. I just kind of watched other people today but Mr. Looney said I'd be ready to start working on a car by the end of the week. He told me to bring something to wear that I didn't mind getting dirty starting tomorrow in case I get the go ahead to start working.

Fee and I have the same choir class though. We have a different taste in music but we have common ground in classic rock.

I sat and watched some of my classmates play tennis outside. I totally could have dressed for gym since uniforms were supplied. The teacher said I didn't have to today if I didn't want to since it is my first day.

-Liz


	5. Felicity: Later Monday, March 8, 2010

**Monday, March 8, 2010**

The rest of today went alright.

I was actually late getting back to the high school and to my fifth hour class – but I had gotten to a point of not caring.

It was my English class with Mrs. Camden. She was a young teacher, with short cropped black hair, very slender and had a bright smile on her face. She honestly didn't even seen to mind when I walked into the classroom five minutes late.

I noticed most of the students from classes earlier in the day, and I almost froze in my tracks when I spotted Elena Gilbert in the middle of the room. And, consequently, the only empty seat in the room was next to her.

_Don't be mean. You're new, you don't know her._ I told myself as I squeezed past the rows of people and sat down quickly in the empty chair. I didn't look to my right, where Elena was sitting. I just pulled out my notebook and began jotting down the notes Mrs. Camden had put on the chalk board.

"Class," Mrs. Camden turned from the chalkboard to address us. "We are starting a new section today. You'll find that we are going to focus on a number of literary works." She smiled, and I noticed that most of the titles of books that were written on the board were either set in or had been written in the 1600s to the 1890s. And, to my dismay, I noticed that I had actually read quite a few of them.

"You can pick up these texts in the back of the room." Mrs. Camden gestured toward the back on the room. I turned to see that there were quite a few stacks of books. "There are nine weeks left in the semester, and we are going to focus on three books; Great Expectations, The Crucible, and The Pioneers. Although The Crucible is a play, we have the manuscript for it." Mrs. Camden smiled and I could see her eyes looking around the room at the reactions on faces. It wasn't until Mrs. Camden turned around again that I heard a voice.

"Felicity Thornton, right?" I could tell that the voice was coming from my right, but I wasn't for-sure if it was _actually_ coming from her. I turned, and saw her dark brown eyes examining me. I tried to smile.

"Hi," I said, trying to be polite.

"I'm Elena Gilbert," she whispered and smiled back at me. I turned back to my notebook and realized I had been doodling on it. Mrs. Camden was carrying on at the front of the room about "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller.

I was writing down what she had on the board, trying to make a good impression, but I could feel Elena's eyes on me every now and again. It was like she had more to say, but didn't want to talk because she didn't want to talk during the lecture. So, we just kind of sat there, awkwardly for the longest time, until the bell finally rang.

I heard her heave a huge sigh of relief at the same I did and we just looked at each other. For an instant, I smiled and so did she.

"It's nice to meet you," I finally said and smiled even bigger. I gathered up my books and headed towards the door.

There were two more periods after that that I endured, and then it was time to go home. It was nice though, that Lizzy and I had sixth hour choir together. The choir was learning a new song, "Shenandoah," so we were able to jump in. The room was huge with rows of chairs on built-in risers that faced a wall of mirrors so you could see the way your mouth was forming words while singing. Lizzy is an alto, and I'm a second soprano so we weren't able to sit next to each other, but, with our glances in the mirror, it's like we can read each other's minds.

Makes me smile now – just writing about it.

It was after seventh hour geometry let out that Lizzy and I found ourselves looking for the car in the parking lot for ten minutes because I had forgotten where I'd parked it when I'd come back from the coffee shop. Finally we spotted it next to one of the lights – basically the boondocks of the parking lot.

I heard Lizzy huff and puff all the way to the car. She knew I'd gone off campus.

"The least you could've done was remembered where you parked it…" She huffed after I'd pressed the automatic unlock button and then yanked open the door and slid into the Mini. She sat with her arms crossed in the leather seat when I climbed in and started the car.

It wasn't until we were exiting the parking lot that I saw a dark figure, leaning against a dark convertible with sunglasses on, just looking at us.

_Was it Stefan Salvatore?_

~Fee

P.s. Officially 18 days until I'm 18.


	6. Felicity: Wednesday, March 10, 2010

**Wednesday, March 10, 2010**

Sometimes I really don't know how to describe my days to you. Sometimes they are just so boring that there isn't anything to write about, like yesterday. Although it wasn't an 'ordinary' day that I would've had in Chicago, I know that it will start to become the 'ordinary' day from now on.

Seriously, this town is so dead it pisses me off. The only thing of interest is Stefan Salvatore, and he's taken. For the first time since I've seen him, yesterday he didn't have his sunglasses on. But, he still had that dark, leather jacket that still makes him look mysterious.

I actually _talked _to Elena Gilbert yesterday, too. Mrs. Camden had put us in pairs so that we could discuss the first 20 pages of "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller. But, I soon found that Elena had already read the play, as well, so we got to talking about Chicago.

"What was it like going to school in Chicago?" She asked, her eyes dancing with light from the sun streaming through the windows.

"Not as bad as one would think," I said slowly, looking at her. She was really pretty, I could see why she was with Stefan – they looked great together.

I heard her laugh quietly.

Lately, I had been getting the same questions over and over again – the 'you grew up in Chicago?' with a doe-eyed look, and a hick-sounding voice. But, Elena, surprisingly, didn't have that Virginian accent a lot of the other students had.

"Why did you guys move?" Elena said, and I saw a look that told me she hoped she wasn't prying too much. I fiddled with my books for a little bit before finally answering. I mean, I really didn't mind answering. It wasn't like there was some scandal my parents had been involved in and that's why we'd moved. It was plain and simple – my parents were idiots and had just decided to do it with no fricken' warning to Lizzy or me.

"Because my parents are idiots." I laughed to myself and looked up at her. She was kind of laughing too. "Well," I laughed a little again at how stupid this would sound once it came out. "I don't really know why."

She gave me a curious look; she was all of the sudden intrigued a little. I laughed again. Her looked seemed to ask me 'what do you mean' and I answered quickly.

"They just up and decided one day that we were moving," I picked up my pen and began to doodle in my notebook. _Now_ I wanted to change the subject.

"Oh…." Elena trailed off for a while and there was silence between us. I could hear a buzz about the room as other pairs discussed "The Crucible." I didn't know really what else to say to her. We don't really have much in common.

"Do you like it here?" Elena asked. She was trying to get the subject off of the reason why we'd mysteriously popped up in Mystic Falls. I looked at her for a second – one of those 'are you kidding' glares, and she shifted in her chair. I shifted in mine, this conversation was getting awkward.

"It's not so bad." Yeah, yeah, so she knew I was lying. Well…. Now that I think about it – a part of that statement is true. "I like our house; we have way more space than we did in our condo." I smiled thinking of my dad's desk in the spare room. It was always covered with newspaper clippings, the most up-to-date medical journals, files and files of things that he never let Lizzy, me or my mother really know about.

"My father, he turned our third bedroom into his office. I remember how messy it was and how often my mother tried to clean off his desk and put things away… And his medical journals, they date all the way back to the 1950s."

At the mention of _medical journals_, I saw Elena's glare intensify on me.

"Medical journals?" She asked me.

"Yeah, tons and tons of them, to the brim. He was always trying to keep himself as up-to-date as possible on advances in the medical world." I paused looking at her. "He would always get excited when he's received a new one each year." I whispered.

There was something in Elena's eyes that told me she might cry. She was in a trance, fixated on the books on her desk.

"My dad was the same way." Elena said slowly, still entranced.

'_Was'…?_

Er….. That's when I realized that her dad was dead.

I needed to change the subject quickly. I didn't want this girl that I didn't know to get all cry-ey on me. I can't handle when people cry – it's like a water balloon that won't that has wriggled itself free of the faucet and spewed everywhere; _wet and uncomfortable._

The bell rang.

I all but ran to my next class. I didn't know to say to Elena.

Today was …needless to say, one that took me by surprise. In first period's dance class, we were assigned partners – each couple is to do a dance to the assigned song – and I was assigned to do the mambo….with Matt Donovan; the same guy who had escorted me to my second period class on my first day at Mystic Falls High School. When I saw the look on his face, I couldn't help but notice that he rolled his eyes at me. And then, I saw a very envious look on Caroline Forbes' face.

Hello, we are just _partners_, not dating. Gosh.

Everyone at this school is so snooty it's not even funny – you would think these southerners would just be hick…but they act like the kids I used to go to school with in the city. I guess it doesn't help that most of the kids here are from the founding families – the original people who settled this town over 140 years ago.

But, that wasn't even what took me by surprise today.

My lab partner in chemistry actually _talked_ to me.

Yes, _Stefan Salvatore_.

We were turning the copper color of pennies gold – and it meant being meticulous in the lab room.

As we were measuring the sodium hydroxide for the sodium hydroxide-zinc mixture, I felt him touch my hand ever so slightly. It was like a shock went through my body as if I had been electrocuted by lightening. I looked at him – and through his goggles, I could see his green eyes looking at me.

"That's good." He said in a low voice as I pulled the big beaker of sodium hydroxide away from our smaller beaker. His hand then grabbed our sodium hydroxide and added it to the zinc. I put the sodium hydroxide down and looked at my lab for a minute, trying to breathe again.

_It didn't mean anything. _I had to tell myself over and over again.

I heard a 'tink' as Stefan dropped his penny into the sodium hydroxide-zinc mixture.

"Two minutes." I said to myself and looked up at the clock; my heart was still racing. I felt his eyes on me.

'_That's good'_ had been the only words he had spoken to me in the past few days I'd been here. But, then again, we had also had lecture in class for the most part – in preparation for this lab.

"What's the cents of this lab?"

I laughed softly. The pun was intended. I looked at him and saw that he was peering at me through the side of his goggles.

"So we can learn how to make _'gold' _and save it for later….?" I put air quotes around 'Gold' and Stefan laughed. He began to pull out the penny with the crucible tongs, but it fell onto the lab table.

Stefan began to pick it up and I gasped loudly.

"Stefan, do you want to burn your hand?" I asked, taking the crucible tongs and tried to pick up the penny. I heard water running as I dropped it on the paper towel and looked at him.

"Are you ok?" I asked slowly and saw that he had pulled his hand back and it was in his jeans pocket.

"Yeah….yeah, I'm fine." He said slowly and it seemed like he was almost _cowering_ at the way I'd…well….yelled at him. I touched his arm lightly. I had been taking first aid classes since I'd turned 15 and knew that he probably had the start of a nasty chemical burn.

"I've taken first aid for almost 3 years." I said when I saw his arm flinch. His green eyes bore into mine and I couldn't help but blush a little. "Stefan…?"

He pulled his hand out of his pocket slowly and held it out for me to see. I turned his hand over to see that a couple of his fingers had enflamed red welts. There was a shock going through my body the entire time I held his hand in mine as I looked at it.

I reached over and turned on the faucet again with cold water – I had to make sure it wasn't a big rush of water because it could cause damage to the burned skin.

"Did you get anything on your clothes?" I asked, and put his hand under the streaming water. He shook his head 'no.' I smiled, glad that there wasn't a possibility of him getting the chemical anywhere else.

"Is everything ok here?" I heard Mr. Proctor ask. I turned to look at the short, bald man and smiled.

"Yeah, everything's find." I said and pulled Stefan's hand away from the running water. One eyebrow rose on Mr. Proctor's face and he just walked on.

"You'll want to wrap that when you get home," I said slowly. Stefan nodded and began drying off his hand with paper towel.

"Thanks," he said softly and his green eyes bore into mine again.

I was quiet for the longest time; I didn't know what to say to him. There seemed to be an awkward silence between us for the longest time, too. Had he felt the shock when our hands were touching? It was like I had an energy surging through my body; it was something I had never felt before.

Was that why he was so quiet all of the sudden?


	7. Elizabeth: March 10, 2010

**March 10****th****, 2010**

I guess I forgot to mention that Tyler is in auto shop class too. He's tried making a couple of advances but I've just ignored him and went to help some of the other guys.

The safety test went pretty well yesterday. I had trouble with a few of the questions but I ended up getting them right too. Which meant I was able to start working on my own project today.

Mr. Looney told me yesterday to find a project to work on, so I did. A few of the guys went to the junkyard with me. We found a 1966 Shelby Mustang that wasn't completely destroyed.

The body needs some work and it may need a new motor but it wasn't anything I can't handle. And it's going to need a new top since the old one looks to be in pretty bad shape.

The guys even helped me load it on the trailer. We took it to the school and set it down in the parking area by the auto shop building.

Ok I don't get why Tyler goes from flirting one moment to bashing on my auto shop project, the next. I mean yeah he was with his football buddies but that shouldn't make a difference.

-Liz


End file.
